SERIE A MATCH REPORT

Gonzalo Higuain’s brace and a Paulo Dybala penalty saw Juventus sweep Bologna aside 3-0 and set a new all-time record of 26 consecutive Serie A home wins.

This result allows them to beat their own record of 25, set during Antonio Conte’s tenure from August 2013 to November 2014.

Juve started 2017 eager to make up for the Supercoppa Italiana defeat to Milan in Doha on December 23, but Gigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Dani Alves, Patrice Evra, Medhi Benatia and Mario Lemina were unavailable. Bologna made the trip without Simone Verdi and Umar Sadiq.

The Rossoblu haven’t beaten Juventus, home or away, since a 2-0 Turin triumph in February 2011, losing six and drawing three.

It took just seven minutes to break the deadlock, as Miralem Pjanic chipped up a smart pass for Gonzalo Higuain, who kept his volley low to squirm in despite Antonio Mirante getting a hand to it.

Stephan Lichtsteiner turned wide from a corner, as did Higuain’s header, but the Swiss international was booked for lashing out an elbow and will be suspended against Fiorentina next week.

Marios Oikonomou rather clumsily barged into Stefano Sturaro as he entered the box for an entirely avoidable penalty. Dybala stepped up and converted, putting the miss in the Doha shoot-out behind him.

Juve remained dominant after the restart, as Lichtsteiner whipped in a cross for the totally unmarked Higuain’s header into the ground for 3-0. Pipita had peeled away from the centre-backs.

Juan Cuadrado almost created a goal with his first touch, surging forward for Khedira’s delightful turn, but Dybala ballooned the finish over the bar.

There was time for Tomas Rincon to be given his debut just days after arriving from Genoa.